taxrefund=newcomputer

[qpmtime]

Ok guys, here's the deal. I've got 3,000 bucks to spend on a new computer and I am going to build it myself. I've researched and planned on HOW to do it. I feel comfortable because I have an electronics background and some computer repair experience. What I would like to know from you guys is what components you would recommend. Start with the case and work forward. I'm not a big gamer and the computer will be mostly an entertainment center consisting of LEGALLY (i think) obtained movies and music. Right now I have a Sony Vaio, 886, 40gighd, santa cruz sound card with klipsch promedia speaker system. win 98se. I will be keeping this around until I build my new one. Thanks in advance for your help

[Malakai1911]

Ok guys, here's the deal. I've got 3,000 bucks to spend on a new computer and I am going to build it myself. I've researched and planned on HOW to do it. I feel comfortable because I have an electronics background and some computer repair experience. What I would like to know from you guys is what components you would recommend. Start with the case and work forward. I'm not a big gamer and the computer will be mostly an entertainment center consisting of LEGALLY (i think) obtained movies and music. Right now I have a Sony Vaio, 886, 40gighd, santa cruz sound card with klipsch promedia speaker system. win 98se. I will be keeping this around until I build my new one. Thanks in advance for your help

Case - Antec Sonata (comes with 380w TruePower Power Supply)

Cpu - Athlon 64 FX-51
(tip: grab a tube of Arctic Silver 5 for thermal paste)

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP-940
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-210&depa=0

RAM - Corsair TwinX 1GB DDR400 (2x512MB sticks)

Video Card - ATI Radeon 9800XT

Sound Card - ...personally, I'd hang onto the santa cruz... otherwise the newest Audigy2.

Hard Drives - Four 250GB Western Digital drives. Definately.
(tip: buy a few rounded cables)

Monitor - for CRT, the

DVDRW - Lite-On LDW-851s

CDRW - Lite-On 52327s (52x32x52x, Black Bezel)

Keyboard/Mouse - Logitech MX Duo

[im not done, but class is ending, ill finish later]

[Sephiroth]

Ok guys, here's the deal. I've got 3,000 bucks to spend on a new computer and I am going to build it myself. I've researched and planned on HOW to do it. I feel comfortable because I have an electronics background and some computer repair experience. What I would like to know from you guys is what components you would recommend. Start with the case and work forward. I'm not a big gamer and the computer will be mostly an entertainment center consisting of LEGALLY (i think) obtained movies and music. Right now I have a Sony Vaio, 886, 40gighd, santa cruz sound card with klipsch promedia speaker system. win 98se. I will be keeping this around until I build my new one. Thanks in advance for your help

Your going to get what other people want and not you. Its a horrible idea to ask on the internet people to design a computer for you.

I suggest you read the review sites like www.tomshareware.com and look up information about the kind of parts or system you want and then go and order the parts and build it yourself.

Planning takes a while to do but if you plan right and smart then it will go together much quicker, be less expensive and youll have a good and stable pc that will last you a long time.

Heres the type of parts youll be needing:

Case with power supply at least 350 watts(ATX compatible), it should come with case fans, If it doesnt for a mid tower pc youll have at least one fan in the back along with the power supply and one in front of the hard drives if there is a place for it which there usually is one.

Motherboard(make sure its compatible with your processor, memory, and is a ATX form, if you go with intel then get a motherboard with a onboard intel network adapter)

RAM-
(again make sure you motherboard supports it and dont buy memory higher than what your motherboard can support)

Processor -
(make sure it fits your motherboard and get one that comes with a heatsink because if you get a good enough PC then you dont have to overclock which there isnt much of a point to it)

Sound Card(Unless you have 4.1 or 5.1 speakers then onboard audio from a motherboard should be fine.)

Video Card(look at the reviews and pick the one you like which keep in mind the numbers in the benchmarks because 20 points out of thousands of points isnt going to be that much of a difference)

cd drive
Hard Drive
Floppy drive

Avoid doing the following:
Case Modding- Called Modding for a reason, although there is no point to it other than to waste money you can do it after the fact.

High price = best product - That is wrong and even though you have a nice amount of money, you dont have to spend it all to get a great pc that performs really fast and great.


And again above all else never forget that your the one using this PC and so you have to build one that fits for you, not others, which is IMO the whole point in building your own pc.

[qpmtime]

Thanks malakai1911 and sephiroth. Seph you give good advice! Malakai thanks for the recommendations.

[nasrules]

To be honest, I'd wait a few months unless you're really desperate. Although it's a constant battle against upgrades, Socket 939 should make AMD's high-end processors much more affordable (the FX series currently run on Skt940, the same as the Opteron).

[shawners]

use your old PC with a new motherboard and processor.

[Sephiroth]

thats assuming that hes going to get a AMD machine which there is nothing wrong with intel and its really a personal choice what processor brand to go with.

Which just because it has 64 bit first which there is few programs that can actually take advantage of it, personally id hold off on 64 bit processors and i dont think that it really is neccessary for what he wants to use it for.

For a good entertainment center then he would want to get a nice monitor, 5.1 speakers, and a nice sound card.

512 megs of ram would be plenty to start off with because i doubt that he will be running as a server so 1 gig of ram is unneccessary and its something that can be easily upgraded if needed in the future and there will probably be faster memory out so it would be cheaper too.

Unless hes going to rip all his dvds and cds to his pc then there is no need for 4 250 gig hard drives. One would be plenty. Two if he is planning on storing it all on his pc.

[Sephiroth]

use your old PC with a new motherboard and processor.

Its too old(if its running win98 then its too old), its best to start from strach because the case nor the power supply probably doesnt have a 12volt connection and it might cause heating problems too because the case wasnt designed for newer processors.

Other things like sound cards, cd drive, mouse, keyboard, floppy drive and hard drive(as a 2nd drive) can be used in the new one.

[shawners]

for intertainment.. Just buy a Surround sound home theater, that plays divx, multiple file formats.. And stop being intertained by a computer =) Imagine hearing a guy say, "HEy, want to check out the speakers on my pc, and the movie i ripped.. Awesome.. HIGH definetion on a 15 in monitor.. and it just blows all the other pc's away. I could of spent 3000 dollars on jetski or new HDtV." once you build a pc.. I really doubt you could ever get 3000 dollars of entertianment. Investing is a good thing =)